


the amazing butterfly-man

by aileenwood



Series: whumptober 2019 [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whumptober 2019, they're still getting there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 15:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21101804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aileenwood/pseuds/aileenwood
Summary: "It's… okay!" Peter grunts through the comms. "I'm throwing punches!""I fucking swear-" Tony mutters, interrupting himself as he gets distracted by a wave of drones shooting at his back. "There are too many of them, Parker. Find somewhere safe, now!""Wait, Mr. Stark, it's okay! I think I got it!""Got what?"Tony chances a look towards the direction of the rooftop Peter had chosen, just in time to see the kid jump off the fucking building."Peter!"(whumptober prompt: explosion)





	the amazing butterfly-man

It was supposed to be an easy task, but when Tony checks the time on the right top corner of his display, he's surprised to find out they've been at it for two hours already.

He's getting annoyed, too. The drone-like objects shoot at him and fly around him fast, almost teasingly. He takes them all out, but more and more of them still continue popping out of nowhere. 

Rhodey and Peter, who are helping him out, sometimes update him on their own progress through the comms. Originally, Peter had the duty of helping to evacuate the area, but after that was done he climbed on top of a rooftop and started webbing up the drones. He sounds excited and confident enough for Tony, making laser sound-effects every time he shoots a web, probably not realizing they can hear _ everything _ he says, so Tony keeps an eye on Rhodey instead. It's his first mission ever since getting his prosthetics, and Tony wasn't expecting this mission to drag for so long.

However, it seems like they have everything under control. They still haven't found the source of the drones, but they appear to be gradually decreasing in number.

That is, until Peter suddenly speaks up through the comms, his voice thick with nervousness.

"_Uh, guys… I think I have a problem_."

"What is it?" Tony asks instantly, shooting at two drones at the same time.

"_I've ran out of webs_!"

"_Shit_," Rhodey curses.

"Get to somewhere safe," Tony says, holding back a curse of his own. "I'll get you in a bit."

"_It's… okay!_" Peter grunts through the comms. "_I'm throwing punches!_"

"I fucking swear-" Tony mutters, interrupting himself as he gets distracted by a wave of drones shooting at his back. "There are too many of them, Parker. Find somewhere safe, now!"

"_Wait, Mr. Stark, it's okay! I think I got it!_"

"Got _ what_?" 

Tony chances a look towards the direction of the rooftop Peter had chosen, just in time to see the kid jump off the fucking building.

"Peter!"

His heart hammers against his chest and he takes off, watching as Peter's downward trajectory is interrupted by a larger drone flying a few feet below the rooftop. The smaller drones around Tony follow his path, slowing him down, and he has to shoot at some of them before they do too much damage to his suit.

As Tony focuses on the kid again, he notices the large drone he landed on is starting to spiral downwards, much to his horror. A moment later he realizes it's not because of the kid's weight, though, but because there's a man flying the thing, and he's too busy taking Peter's punches to actually pilot it.

"Kid, you're gonna crash! Let go, I'm gonna catch you!"

Despite his orders, Tony himself crashes against a few drones flying in his direction as he gets too invested in the kid's actions. He curses and almost flies straight into a building, losing sight of Peter in the process. FRIDAY helps him spot him a few seconds later, but he's too late. 

The large drone crashes against two cars parked side by side, and Tony watches as they explode right in front of him.

"_Tony, is he_-"

"Peter!"

He lands a few feet from where the drone crashed, feeling he's about to be sick, or have a heart attack. Or both. 

He vaguely realizes that the smaller drones have stopped shooting and flying, and are slowly descending from the sky, landing on rooftops, on top of cars and around Tony on the sidewalk.

He doesn't really focus on that, though - his eyes are fixed on the place where Peter crashed. A part of him doesn't want to look, doesn't even want to think about what he might find in there, but another part is telling him that this can't be true, the kid surely wouldn't-

"Mr. Stark!"

A wave of relief washes over him, and Tony's knees suddenly feel weak.

"God," he breathes, turning around to see Peter popping up from another car a few feet away. "How did you even… Just _ how_?"

"Oh," Peter starts, the mask eyes turning big as he approaches Tony and takes in the explosion the man just witnessed. "We rolled away once it crashed, didn't you see that? It only exploded after a few seconds."

Tony swallows, his heartbeat still ridiculously fast. "I... didn't. Those things got in the way."

"Oh," the kid repeats. "It's fine now, though! I knocked him out."

"You sure did," Tony mutters, still a bit out of it. He almost feels like he's just had an out-of-body experience. "How did you know that was the source?"

"When my webs ran out, I saw the guy flying from the inside of a van," Peter replies. "I think he was trying to get away while we were distracted."

Tony nods, taking a deep breath before retracting his helmet. "Okay… That's- That's fine. We need to figure these web shooters out, though. Design some with more storage, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Peter nods, the mask eyes shrinking with excitement. They suddenly turn a bit bigger again in the next second, and Peter tilts his head to the side. "Mr. Stark… are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"Just," Tony begins, then pauses for a second, averting his gaze. He still feels on the edge of an episode, heart pounding against his chest as the image of Peter jumping off the building and crashing against the sidewalk replays inside his head. It's not the first time the kid does something completely insane, but this time he didn't even had his webs. That's a whole other level of craziness. It's like he forgot for a minute a radioactive _spider_ bit him, not a fucking butterfly.

What if something happened to him? Tony was _ almost _ there when the kid crashed. He would never be able to forgive himself, he thinks bitterly, then tries to shake the thought out of his head. For some reason, the idea of seeing the kid hurt just gets harder to take at each passing day, and thinking about what could've happened is pure torture. Sometimes all he wants is to envelop the kid in bubble wrap.

"The idea of having to report to your aunt about you squashed down against the sidewalk is really terrifying, so let's not jump off buildings again, yeah?" he settles for this instead, even though the memory of the kid's Aunt's angry gaze on him does make him fear for his life a little bit, still.

Peter has the audacity to giggle, the little shit. "Sorry," he says. "But I really knew I could get him, so it's fine!"

_ No, it's not_, Tony thinks, but holds it back. The kid _ is _ fine. It's not his job to scold him. Tony's not his parent, after all.

Rhodey lands right next to them, retracting his own helmet as soon as his feet touch the ground. 

"Good job, kid," he says. "You good?"

"Yeah," Peter nods. "Is NYPD coming?"

"Almost here," Tony says. "We should head home. You need a lift, right, kid?"

"It's fine, Mr. Stark!" Peter reassures him, already starting to walk away from them. "I have to grab my bag, and afterwards I'm heading to Ned's!"

"Are you sure?" he asks, raising his voice as the little shit continues to walk away. "You know, it would_ literally _ take me five minutes."

"Yeah, don't worry! Thanks, though!" Peter yells back, looking a bit adorable as he salutes them goodbye. "See ya!"

Tony sighs deeply once he's out of sight. Rhodey chuckles, putting his helmet back on.

"C'mon, your child is fine. Let's grab some pizza."

Tony scoffs, but sets off right after him.

  


**Author's Note:**

> note: still don't have a beta reader! sorry for any mistakes :')
> 
> thank you for reading! i really wanted to write a pre-infinity war oneshot, and i felt like whumptober was the perfect opportunity for it. hope you guys liked it!


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